Breathe For Me
by MissMuffin42
Summary: Danny had thought for a while, maybe after Mickey had left things would be different, maybe that Stacie would give him more attention. He’d thought when Mickey left that a lot of things would be different. But nothing was really going to change, was it?
1. Sleeping

'Jonathan Garner' shook hands with his client. He turned and left the hotel lobby, throwing an empty Coke can in the bin on his way out. He got into his car, a shiny silver BMW, threw the briefcase of money onto the back seat and booted up the engine.

Fifteen minutes later, the same car pulled up outside a tall block of upmarket apartments. The door to the driver's seat swung open, and Danny Blue got out. He walked into the lobby of the building, and rung the elevator bell. He let out a low whistle as a tall, slender woman with a lot of legs and blonde hair walked past, her heels clip-clopping against the polished, white floor. She turned around and winked, grinning.

The elevator doors opened, and Danny got in. He proudly pressed the _P/H _button. As the lift started ascending, he examined himself in the mirror. He undid the buttons of the black jacket he was wearing, pulled off the black tie and loosened the neck of his pastel blue shirt. He ran a hand through his dusty blonde hair, trying to make it look casually ruffled. This was the part of the day where he left behind 'Jonathan Garner', a car dealership man, or whatever other art dealer or antique shop owner or record producer he was playing, and let himself be Danny Blue, his real self.

When the elevator arrived on the top floor, the doors opened with a little ping, which Danny had heard so much he could now sort of sing along with it. He crossed the corridor in a few strides, and fumbled for his keys in his pocket. Danny knocked on the door, still searching for the keys. The annoying thing was, he could actually hear them jingle somewhere in his jacket every so often. He knocked on the door again.

"Hey, let me in, I've lost my keys!"

The door swung open, a rather put out Ash Morgan stood at the other side.

Danny didn't say a word, just lifted up the briefcase of notes and rattled it in Ash's direction, letting a boyish grin spread across his face.

"Hey, well done!"

Ash raised his hand; Danny struck his across Ash's as they high-fived.

The other two members of the group appeared from the huge, open space that serviced as a living room, smiling as they saw what Danny was holding.

Stacie, dressed in a casual crimson dress and black, footless tights, went over to Danny. She softly pecked him on the cheek, which sent a little shiver down Danny's spine. And then she moved away.

Danny couldn't remember how long he'd been in love with Stacie Monroe, but he was. It would have been nice to say it was from the moment they met, but that wasn't true. He'd thought she was hot, that was all. He hadn't felt like this before, ever. But if he thought about it, really thought about it, it was hard to remember a time when he hadn't felt just like this about her.

He knew it was hopeless, thinking she could ever feel the same way.

He'd thought for a while, maybe after Mickey had left things would be different, maybe that Stacie would give him more attention. He'd thought when Mickey left that a lot of things would be different.

He wished he could be like Mickey. He wanted to be the one that Ash idolised, that Stacie flirted with, that Albert saw as a younger version of himself, smart, talented, a real grifter.

He'd thought that it was Mickey that had been stopping him being like that. But it wasn't really like that, was it? Maybe… maybe he just wasn't that awesome.

Great. Danny had just won them all over a million pounds and now he was having ego problems.

After Danny had changed clothes, all four of them headed over to Eddie's Bar. For once, they actually paid for their drinks, much to Danny's disappointment. But then again, conning Eddie was like playing rock, paper, scissors or I Spy. Unlike their other cons, they didn't do it because there was big money involved, or because it would help someone. They did it when they got bored, just to pass the time. Making fun of Eddie was just what they did. Sure, they all loved him really.

The bar was unusually popular; there were two other groups of strangers in there. Ever since Eddie's Bar had been given a 'makeover', it wasn't as normal for them to be the only people there, particularly on a Friday night like this one. There were a few regulars, but none seemed as dedicated as Ash, Stacie, Albert and Danny. They almost missed always having the whole place to themselves, but it still happened sometimes and anyway, it was better than staying in their flat. They didn't always go to Eddie's, though. About once a week, Albert would pick a club or a casino and they'd set up shorter cons, usually returning home with a few thousand pounds in their pockets, sometimes just leaving a grand on the street for whichever lucky stranger came across it.

"So, what're we gonna do next?" Ash asked, toying with the lemon in his drink.

"Can't discuss it here," Albert replied, gesturing to a group of about six people. Eddie jumped up to serve them. Although it happened more regularly now, it still gave him extra satisfaction when customers that were probably going to pay him came into his bar.

"Could you _not _do that?"

Danny turned to see a disgusted Stacie frowning, as Ash happily bit into the slice of lemon. He shut his own eyes tight, imagining the taste…

Eww.

They spent the rest of the evening laughing and drinking, as usual. By one, Ash had got bored and gone back to their flat, and Albert had gone off to talk to a group of men, Danny didn't miss the few aces up the sleeve of his posh suit. Danny's head hurt, and he almost felt like turning in but he didn't want to leave Stacie here to get a cab on her own: Ash had taken the car they'd all come in.

He came back from the bathroom and noticed Stacie was asleep, half-empty glass of wine still in front of her. Her head was resting on the corner of wall next to their table, a curtain of dark hair across her face. Danny didn't want to wake her up, though he supposed it would have been nice to move her. He rarely saw Stacie sleeping; she wasn't the type of person who usually ended up falling asleep in bars. That was just him.

Watching her sleep was fascinating. Stacie was so impossibly still, Danny was a little scared that she might not have been breathing.

He almost, almost held her hand. But only almost, it only took a second for Danny to realise what he was actually doing and that this was _Stacie_, who his chances with were about as slim as the chances of him opening an ice cream factory next week.

Actually, he _might _have opened an ice cream factory next week…

Whatever. Stacie and him was just… never going to happen. Ever. Whether Mickey was in Australia or right round the corner.

Danny finished off his drink, and rooted around in his pocket for his phone. He found it and dialled the number for a taxi firm, still a little unable to take his eyes of her.


	2. In The Morning

The next morning Danny awoke in a strange bed in a strange room with a strange woman.

The room in general looked like something from a DFS advert. It had complete lack of personality but it was very modern, two of the walls were a cold shade of lilac and the other two a colour just off white. Glass shelves lined them, a weird square shaped sculpture sat on one which Danny at first thought looked a little like a horse but then seemed to be a kind of bird.

It was like deja vu, this had happened so many other mornings before it was almost routine. He scanned the room again, trying to see if he recognised where he was, or even the face of the woman next to him. Nothing came to mind.

He got up, trying desperately not to make any noise and pulled on his clothes, then almost knocked over the bedside lamp. He cursed under his breath.

Once he'd located his phone, Danny left a note on the pillow, not wanting to seem a jerk, then picked the lock of the door, a trick he'd learnt from Albert, and bounded down the stairs.

It was half past ten, which meant the others would already be designing the latest con without him. On the other hand it didn't mean that it was too late to call Ash, who was usually the one who ended up collecting Danny from strange places. He looked around for a road sign for Ash to key into the Sat Nav and found it. When Danny finally sat down, he actually realised how much his head hurt. He wondered how much he'd had to drink last night; he had vague memories of Eddie's Bar. Or perhaps he just knew he'd thought that because that was basically his second home, as it was to all of them.

About fifteen minutes later, a red Volvo that Danny hadn't seen before appeared right next to the bench he was sat on. The blacked out window of the driver's seat came down to reveal a grinning Ash Morgan. Danny laughed, swinging open the back door and jumping into the back seat of the car. He shut the door behind him and his friend started the engine.

"Where did you get this baby?" Danny asked, closing his eyes and breathing in the pretty scent of new car.

"I have my sources," Ash replied. "And some poor bastard doesn't have their car."

Danny tutted, smirking.

"Hey, he'll _probably _get it back!"

Danny laughed, then realised a third voice was joining in with the laughter. He slowly turned to find Stacie in the seat next to him.

"What the… how did you _get _there?!" Danny said, shocked at himself.

She laughed. "I've been here for ages."

He stared at her, still a little puzzled.

"Where's Albert?" Danny asked, looking around the car.

"Oh, we've sort of lost him," Ash said, casually.

"Lost him? As in…"

"As in we don't know where he is, yeah."

"Ash thinks he's done 'a Danny'" Stacie told him, adding a playful roll of the eyes.

Danny noticed how weirdly cheerful she seemed. As usual, she looked beautiful, but somehow in a different way. She was wearing a navy dress with leggings and heels, and gold hoop earrings framed her face. Her hair fell in black ripples around her shoulders, contrast to her porcelain skin.

"You ok?" he asked her, really wanting to say "_You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen,"_, or "_You're _all _I think about_"or even _"I'm in love with you."_

"Yeah," she said, smiling at him. "Thanks for calling me a taxi, by the way,"

Danny racked his brain, trying to remember a taxi.

"Sorry, I forgot you can't remember anything that happened to you yesterday," Stacie teased.

"I so can!"

"Ok. What was _her _name?"

Oh, God. She meant that woman, the one whose flat he'd just left. Danny thought about it.

"Erm…"

Stacie stared at him, with _those eyes_, an amused smile slowly spreading across her face. She started to laugh, Ash joined in.

"Look, I _do _know it! I just…"

"… don't remember?" Ash said, teasingly.

"Well, yeah."

He saw the looks that they're giving him and can't help but laugh.

"Ok, whatever!"

The car drew up outside Eddie's Bar, and the three of them got out, and went in.

"Still no sign of Albie," Stacie said, eyeing all the empty tables.

They went over to their usual table. Eddie saw them and raised a hand.

"I'll be one minute," he said, heading up the stairs round the corner from the back of the door. As soon as he's round the corner, Danny slid across the bar and grabs a bottle of beer from the freezer, opening it and taking it back to their table.

"Hey!" Ash said.

"Sorry," Danny replied, smiling at him apologetically as he went back to the bar and took another beer, plus a ten pound note from the till. He threw the bottle to Ash, who caught it smoothly.

"Poor Eddie," said Stacie, unable to stop smiling.

"So if there's no sign of him by lunchtime we call him, yeah?" Ash said, unscrewing his beer.

"He's only been gone two minutes!" Danny replied, looking at Ash, puzzled.

"I'm talking about Albert, you moron!"

"Oh."

They were all silent for a minute, Danny looking down a little.

"This isn't like him," Stacie said, coming across from the table to sit at the bar with the other two. "I mean, this is Albie we're talking about. He doesn't just disappear."

Ash shrugged. "He can look after himself."

There was a throng of 'hellos' as Eddie re entered the room.

"Hey, where did you get those?" he said, gesturing to the drinks in their hands.

Danny tried his best to look confused. "You?"

"Me?"

"Yep, we bought them from you about… ten minutes ago, Stace?"

"Oh, I would say twenty," she said, playing along.

Eddie looked at each of their perfect poker-faces, wondering if he was being conned. After all, it wouldn't be the first time.

"There you go, twenty minutes," Danny told him, lifting up his now half-empty bottle and clinking it against Ash's. They both drank.

"That's impossible… you lot have only been here about five!" the barman protested.

"Five? I would say _twenty _five. Are you sure you haven't got concussion or something, mate?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, you didn't hit your head did you, Eddie?"  
Stacie casually brushed her hand against Eddie's. He sighed and turned round, thinking "One day I won't let them beat me."

The other three happily drank their drinks, and for the first time Danny really started thinking about Albert. Stacie had been right, it wasn't like him to just disappear. But then again Ash was also, Albert _could _look after himself and they would know if we was in trouble, wouldn't they?

They'd call him at lunchtime. And if there was nothing then…

Well, they'd call him at lunchtime. That was as far as they needed to think, for now.

When they'd finished their drinks and talked with Eddie, they went back to their flat, so that Danny could shower and get changed and they could look for any trace of Albert. There was nothing, nothing at all.

It still wasn't twelve o clock, which they'd decided was officially lunchtime a while ago. Who they were made it easier for them to make rules for themselves and keep them, except Danny knew that the other two felt the same way as he did about wanting to grab the phone and _just do it_, and he'd secretly caught Ash setting the egg timer they kept in the kitchen to twelve o clock. They sat there with the TV on, nobody really watching it. To Danny it was just a blank screen.

But then, coincidently at two minutes to twelve a key sounded in the door and Albert strolled in, unbelievably casually.

"Albie!" Stacie exclaimed, running to hug him.

The other two came to surround him.

"Where've you been?!" Ash demanded.

Albert shrugged, simply. "Places."

"Places? We were so worried!" Stacie said. They were sitting in the large space that served as the living room now, Danny pouring drinks.

When he came back, he saw Albert was holding a fat, blue folder, which Danny recognised as the one they always kept their information for upcoming cons, chunks of paper which would end up shredded and given to a friend of Albert's who kept a hutch of guinea pigs.

Danny walked round to the back of the sofa, where the other three were sat and leant on the back of it. He looked over their shoulders at the paperwork and tried to make some sense of it, of Albert's italic script and the photograph of a man that Danny didn't recognise.

They all listened to Albert, as he talked through the con. It wasn't something Danny found hard to pick up, it was similar to something they'd done in February of last year, conning an art dealer.

Ash had a meeting with the guy in two days time; him and Albert were going to set up a fake office tomorrow.

That night he didn't go to Eddie's with the others. He stayed in, claiming a cold which wasn't _entirely _made up, he did sort of feel ill. And, of course, nobody protested. They all wanted him better before he was involved in stealing a painting.

He took the opportunity that the others were out and watched Notting Hill on Film 4 then headed to bed, definitely feeling ready to sleep like a log.


	3. Help

**Hi!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews. I wish I could send you all cookies except you're pretend Internet people. :p Ok, I haven't updated this in a pretty long time, because of two other fanfics I have on the go but I'm going to focus more on this for a while. Also I've had to redo Chapter 3 because I decided I had to much happening in one chapter, and I kept reading through it and couldn't make myself like it and if I'd carried on writing the story post-that chapter I probably would've ended up getting mad at all the characters and killing them off or something. It might, however, be quite a long time before I update this again because I actually have almost no idea what's going to happen in it and it sort of keeps changing so yeah. But I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Thanks for reading. =]**

**Miss Muffin**

***

The next evening Danny was alone in Eddie's Bar. Ash and Stacie had gone to see a friend of the crew, who dealt in fake paintings, and Albert was out at one of his card games.

He walked in confidently, going over to the bar and landing swiftly on a stool.

"Hey, Danny. On your own?" Eddie asked, pouring ice into a glass.

"Yeah, they're coming later."

"Right," the barman said, sliding the now filled glass across the counter. "That's £2.50."

"Ok, sure," Danny replied. He started to open his wallet, and then paused suddenly. "Wait – have you got any crisps?"

"Yeah, what d'you want?"

"Salt and vinegar please, Eddie, three packets. I missed lunch," he said, as the barman raised an eyebrow questioningly.

He started to place the three packets on the bar, wondering what he was up to. Eddie did not trust Danny Blue, who was now happily taking a sip of his drink as he tore open a packet of crisps.

"£3.75," Eddie said, gesturing to the wallet in his hand.

"Coming up."

Danny took out a five pound note from his wallet, and then paused again. "Oh, and can I have two G and Ts as well, Eddie? It's just, Ash and Stacie are coming any minute, and…"

Eddie sighed, and took out two glasses filling them with ice.

"Thanks, Eddie."

He didn't smile.

From the second the glass clinked against the bar, Danny mentally started counting down in his head. _3, 2, 1…_

The sound of ringing made Eddie jump slightly. He watched as Danny answered the slim silver phone in his pocked, then walked to the other side of the bar, lifting his index finger in Eddie's direction and giving him a friendly smile. He watched Danny as he spoke, curious. His face changed from a fading grin to a worried expression. He watched his lips mouth 'Okay.'

He hung up and went over to the bar.

"Eddie I've got to go… my Nan's in hospital…"

He grabbed his jacked and swiftly strode out of the room. Behind him, the barman looked confusedly at the mess of empty crisp wrappers and vacant glasses in front of him.

Outside of the bar, Danny's frown turned into a grin. He placed his wallet back in his pocket and lifted a hand for a taxi, feeling a little bad for having to use his Nan like that.

***

He met Ash and Stacie at a wine bar in Soho.

They were going to the launch for a new art gallery, one that their current mark was opening. What they were selling was supposedly the original of a very famous modern art painting. What they were _actually _selling was a forgery painting that had been rustled up in three days by a friend of Albert's, who owed him a favour. Danny made a mental note to ask him why he owed him a favour. After all, everybody loved Albert's stories.

Danny arrived there at eight sharp. He met up with the other two outside the wine bar, as planned. Ash was dressed in a posh navy suit; Stacie looked amazing in a figure hugging dress, knee length dress that was charcoal grey. Her hair was in a messy bun and her eyes were lined with kohl.

"You're late," Ash complained as Danny approached them, ducking under a shop doorway to escape the rain.

"Well I got hold up!" he protested.

"Held up where?"

"Eddie's," Danny mumbled, almost inaudibly.

The other two laughed, as they walked in through the huge doors of the art gallery.

The room was filled with music and people. The three of them gladly took glasses of champagne from a passing waiter's tray. Ash leant inwards towards Danny and Stacie.

"Ok, the mark's over there."

Ash indicated towards a tall man, Danny would have said he was about thirty. He had short dark hair and was wearing an expensive suit. He had a look of someone who was slightly evil, or even slightly insane. One of his hands held a glass of champagne, the other was hooked through the arm of a young woman, who seemed to be in her early twenties. Her hair was unrealistically blonde, her eyes a muddy brown.

"Samuel Perry. Used to be a lawyer, resigned three months ago around the same time as his divorce, when he took most of his wife's savings and left the country."

"Remind you of someone? Stacie said, looking upwards in thought sarcastically.

It always surprised Danny when Stacie joked about Jake, or even just talked to him, casually, in a conversation like this one. He was sure if that had happened to him, he wouldn't just be able to mention it in such a relaxed way, or even mentioned it at all. Stacie's husband was a topic that was usually tactfully left out of conversations by him, Ash, and Albert, though Stacie didn't seem to care so much, he thought. For a while after they'd conned Jake, she'd seemed pretty upset but once she was over him then, it wasn't really an issue anymore. Danny hadn't ever really been in a serious relationship before, but he figured getting over someone wasn't easy.

Yet here she was, acting as if what she'd just said didn't matter at all.

"So I'm going over there to talk to him now and I'll signal you over in two minutes, ok?" Ash said, and then downed his champagne.

"Right," Danny replied.

Him and Stacie watched as the fixer confidently went over to the mark. They watched the two men laughing, then Samuel Perry appear to explain something to Ash, and he listened intently. A few seconds later, behind Ash's back he put his thumb up in the other two's direction.

"Ready?" Danny asked.

"Yep."

Danny offered Stacie his arm, and she slid her own through his gladly. They walked together across the huge lobby of the art gallery and up three steps, where Ash was stood.

"Jason!"

Danny turned to Ash, acting as if he'd just seen him.

"Jason, this is Samuel Perry, this is the man I was telling you about, Mr Perry this is a client of mine, Jason Walker."

"Mr Perry," "Jason" said, offering his hand.

"Mr Walker." He took it, and they shook hands. "Mr Edwards here's told me a lot about you."

"This is my fiancée, Vanessa Moore," Danny said, indicating towards Stacie.

She lifted a hand ever so slightly, _that _smile appearing across her lips. Danny could tell that Samuel Perry was instantly charmed. Every man in the _room_ was instantly charmed. Including Danny. No, _especially _Danny.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Moore." Samuel Perry lifted a hand. He was looking at Stacie like she was something to eat. It sort of made Danny want to punch him.

"Mr Perry," she shook his hand. Danny wondered how she could stand his eyes on her like that.

"So, have you done business with him before?" Danny asked.

"No, we only met a few days ago. Have you?"

Ash and Stacie began to each other, disappearing towards the bar.

"Yeah, Philip's virtually family. I own a small gallery just near here, you know, so…"

Danny was suddenly interrupted by his phone going off in his pocket.

"Excuse me," he said, lifting the phone to his ear and heading round the corner. He frowned a little as he saw the caller ID. He was out of earshot.

"Mick, not now ok? Sort of in the middle of something…"

"Danny, I need your help. I'm in prison."


	4. Jet Lag

The whole twenty four hour flight to Sydney, Danny, Ash and Stacie barely spoke to each other at all.

It seemed impossible that the great Mickey Bricks had actually landed himself in jail. Mickey, the one that everybody looked up to, the one that made grifting seem so impossibly effortless it was almost laughable. For three years, his whole crew had hopes pinned on him, they had complete faith in him. It was almost embarrassing to think that their leader was now behind bars in a foreign country, failing after supposedly performing one of the biggest cons in history.

As soon as Danny had hung up, he'd gone to find Ash and Stacie to tell them. The three of them had run back to their apartment to pack bags, and then driven straight to Heathrow Airport, unable to contact Albert yet again. All thoughts of the art gallery con were postponed. It sort of went without saying that Mickey came first. Danny couldn't help but wonder if it would have been the same way if it was him that ended up in prison.

Ash was the only one that didn't sleep at all on the plane. It was five thirty, English time, and Danny and Stacie had been asleep for a few hours now, missing the air hostess when she came round with three trays of food. Ash hadn't wanted to eat. He wasn't really a breakfast type of person, especially when he was on a plane to Australia to get one of his friends out of prison.

Not that that had ever happened before.

"What d'you thinks happening to Albie?"

The voice next to Ash made him just slightly. He'd thought that Stacie was asleep, but general common sense told him otherwise. Her hair was sticking up slightly in odd places, her head resting on the tacky airplane pillow. She looked like she _had _been asleep.

"No idea," Ash replied. To be honest, he hadn't given that much attention to Albert's whereabouts. The first time it had happened, he'd thought it was weird for Albert to go missing for an entire night. This time, he'd been thinking more about Mickey than Albert.

"I'm worried about him. Just going missing like this… it isn't like him. And he won't answer our calls. What if something's happened?"

"I'm sure he'll be alright," Ash smiled. "Albert's a big boy, he look after himself."

"Yeah, well, we all thought that about Mickey," she muttered in response.

They both sat in silence, lost in thought.

"When he's out of jail… do you think he'll stay with us?" Stacie asked.

Ash didn't reply straight away. Sometimes, he felt as if he was the only one who realised how Stacie felt about Mickey, especially since Mickey had left. Ash had known for a long time, though it sort of seemed as if he was the only one, and that was including Mickey. He wanted desperately to be able to tell her that yes, Mickey would stay with them but he knew he couldn't.

But then again, would he? It sort of went without saying that Mickey wouldn't be selling the Sydney Opera House anymore, and he'd always been going to come back to England after that.

Ash thought about the idea of Mickey coming home, having Mickey as their leader again. It wasn't that Danny wasn't a good leader, Danny was brilliant. But when Mickey was their leader it had always felt safe, everybody always knew that when they came out of it, everything would be alright. With Danny, it was riskier. With Danny, Ash never felt so sure.

"I don't know, Stace," he replied, honestly.

"I used to think he'd come back as soon as he was done in Australia. But now… well, he's been over there three months. But what if he's joined Albert's friends' crew permanently?"

"No," Ash said simply. "Mickey wouldn't do that."

Stacie paused for a while. "Yeah, you're right."

They both sat in a comfortable silence for a while.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?"

She looked worried; her eyes were clouded with trouble. Stacie opened her mouth to speak then bit her lip.

"Doesn't matter."

Ash was about to push her but decided against it. It could wait.

"I'm going to sleep now, ok?"

"Alright," he smiled. "Night, Stace."

"Night."

It could wait. It could wait, for now.

***

**Thanks for reading! =]**

**Only a short update, I know, but I pinky promise the next one will be longer. Please review.**

**Miss Muffin**


	5. Milkshake

Danny ate breakfast at a fast food restaurant just near the airport, when they'd landed. He'd given Ash the job of stealing a nice car, Stacie was checking into a hotel and Danny was supposed to be coming up with a plan to get Mickey out. Trouble was, he had no idea what they were going to do. And his large cheeseburger and banana milkshake didn't really help him, although he kept telling himself they would.

So, he decided he was going to go see Mickey.

He sent quick texts to Ash and Stacie, telling them where he was going, then lifted his hand to a passing taxi and got in it. He told the driver the name of the prison Mickey had given him, and sat, still slurping his milkshake.

He got out of the cab, after paying the driver (he didn't have time to get out of it today) and walked in.

Ten minutes later, he walked out again.

He'd walked into the reception area, a little uneasily, and asked for Michael Stone. The guard had checked some kind of computer system and it turned out that there was no Michael Stone there.

So now Danny had no idea what to do. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell Ash and Stacie that he had no idea where Mickey was. What sort of leader did that make him? He mentally poked himself.

His phone buzzed, and it was at his ear instantly.

"Hello?"

"Danny? I've booked us into a hotel," Stacie told him.

"Ok…" Danny took out a biro from his pocket and laid his left palm flat in front of him, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear so that he could use his right hand to write.

"Alright, we're at the Star City Hotel, on Pyrmont Street. You're in Room 245, under the name of Josef Carter. We're in Room 247, come over there when you're ready."

"Ok, thanks Stacie."

"See you."

Danny hung up.

He called the number he'd noted down from the side of the taxi earlier, and told them where he was. He realised how much he enjoyed listening to Australian accents.

Danny had never actually been to Australia before. He hadn't really done much travelling at all in his life. When he was younger, family holidays were limited to the same campsite in France each year. He'd been to Germany once, on a school exchange, and the only other time he'd been abroad was when he'd travelled to America to work the Hollywood sign con with Ash, Stacie and Albert. He sort of wished he'd had enough time to work up his excitement more about going to Australia, but the whole Mickey being in jail thing had kind of killed it.

He arrived at Star City Hotel at two o clock. The whole décor and beauty of it would usually have been fascinating, but Danny was so used to staying in posh hotels, and he'd lived in the Lexington for a year that it had become routine. It was still impressive, though.

He strolled over to the reception. There was a small queue in front of the desk. Danny told the receptionist he had a room reserved under the false name Stacie had given him, which he _just _managed to remember in time. She gave him the key without questions.

He called the elevator and waited. It came down and he stepped in. There was an operator stood, dressed in a suit and smiling falsely, by the panel of buttons.

"Fourth floor," Danny told him.

"Certainly, sir," the operator replied.

Danny stood in the elevator, happily tapping his fingers against the wall and thinking about how pointless that guy's job was. The elevator stopped and its doors slid open. He stepped out and searched for his room. He found 239, and followed the corridor down until he found 245. Danny carried on to Room 247, Stacie, who'd been put in charge of accommodation, had his luggage.

He knocked on the door once.

There wasn't an answer straight away. Danny lifted his fist to knock again, but the door swung open.

"Hey, Danny!" Ash said. He was changed from last night's suit into a loose shirt and jeans, a glass of champagne in his hand.

"Look, Ash, I need to talk to you and Stacie…"

"It can wait, come on…" Ash replied, gesturing to the doors that Danny assumed led to the balcony.

Danny shrugged, simply. "I guess it can."

He stopped and gasped as soon as he saw the balcony.

There was a small white marble table in the centre of it, four chairs around it. One of them was taken up by Stacie, who'd changed into a strappy brown dress and huge sunglasses, half filled glass in hand. She looked beautiful, but Danny didn't notice that as much as he normally would have done.

Because there, in the chair next to her, drinking champagne in the sunshine, was Mickey Stone.


	6. Family

"What the hell," Danny said. "Are you doing here?"

Mickey laughed. "Good to see you too, Danny."

Danny, in response, could only stutter. Ash and Stacie exchanged glances, trying desperately to suppress laughter.

"You're in prison!"

Mickey shrugged. "I had to say something to get you all in the country didn't I?"

"What d'you mean, get us in the country?"

"As in, I need you all to help me," Mickey said, leaning inwards on the table to face the other three, his tone businesslike. "Now ideally, Albert would be with us, but you never know, we'll keep trying and maybe he can fly out here in a few days."

Despite his anger, Danny found himself listening to Mickey.

"Ok. I've got us a mark."

He couldn't pretend that he hadn't seen this coming, but Danny couldn't not feel a little annoyed that Mickey had just interrupted them, and dragged them out here for no particular reason.

"_We_ had a mark!" he said in protest. "Why d'you need us here, Mickey?"

"Because I can't do this alone."

"Ok, fine, but what about Albert's friends you were selling the Sydney Opera House with? What happened to them?"

Mickey shrugged. "We finished that about a month back, I haven't seen Chris and Mary since. And I really need you all to help me with this. Can you do that?"

The other three exchanged glances.

"I'm in," Ash said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, me too," Stacie agreed, a grin dancing across her lips.

Danny was the only one not to speak.

"Danny?"

He thought about it. He didn't want to say yes, it seemed like giving in. But he saw his friends' faces and knew he'd couldn't look at them and just deny the fact that, actually, he really, really wanted to do this.

"Yeah, well, what _would _you do without me?"

They all laughed, and Danny found himself joining in. Someone handed him a glass of champagne, and the four of them lifted their glasses and clinked them together.

"Ok then. The con is on."

***

Danny didn't sleep much.

He should have done, really, because of jet lag and the fact that he hadn't slept for over 24 hours, but he couldn't sleep. Mickey's arrival had changed a lot of things.

He got up and put a sweater on over the t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms that serviced as pyjamas for him. It was too late to call room service, but he was sure he'd find some form of alcohol in the fridge.

He was wrong.

Feeling a little defeated, he poured himself a glass of orange juice with ice and took it out to the balcony. It wasn't cold like he'd expected it to be, it was actually really warm. Australia was a weird place.

He thought about Mickey. A few days ago, Danny had not been expecting Mickey to come back into his life again. The fact that he was coming back one day was always there, it was just that he'd been gone so long that it had sort of disappeared now. They'd almost been thinking about recruiting someone else, since Billy moved to America with the woman that was now his fiancé and Mickey still hadn't returned.

"You ok?"

Danny jumped a little. He hadn't noticed the tall dark figure appear behind him.

"God, Mickey!"

He chuckled. "I'm sorry."

"I thought I locked the door!"

"Yeah, you did," Mickey replied, mysteriously.

The two of them stood in silence for a while, leaning against the balcony edge.

"It's really freaked you out, me turning up, hasn't it?"

Danny opened his mouth to speak. It was impossible to lie around Mickey. "Yeah, a little bit."

"I'm sorry about the whole jail thing, I just really wanted to be sure you'd all come," he replied.

Danny didn't say anything, just took a sip of his drink and smiled slightly.

"I'm also sorry I just turned up out of the blue like this. If you want after this con I can disappear… I'll tell Ash and Stacie I'm resigning or something."

"No, don't do that. We're better with you, you're a better leader than I can be," Danny shrugged. "I'm fine with that now," he said, not entirely truthfully. "We need you."

"Listen to me," Mickey said, turning to look at him. "You're a brilliant grifter. You sold the Hollywood sign without me. You took three million from a casino without me. I wasn't there but from what Ash and Stacie said this afternoon, you were a great leader. Danny, you do not need me."

He found himself unable to argue back.

"They want you to come back, though, Mick. Ash, Stacie, Albert…" Danny paused momentarily. "And I, you know… wouldn't mind."

Mickey laughed. "Thanks, Danny."

Danny proceeded to take a sip of his orange juice but found the glass was empty, apart from a few ice cubes. Instead, he played with the straw, absentmindedly.

"What really happened with Albert's friends, the Australians?" Danny asked.

Mickey shrugged. "I just never really got on with them, I didn't like the way they did things. The cons Chris and Mary did were all very similar. After the Sydney Opera House they asked if I wanted to stay with them for a while."

"And?"

"And I declined."

Danny shot Mickey a strange look.

"I thought it'd be right up your street… selling huge, expensive landmarks and risking jail."

"Every day? I'd get bored," he laughed. "I couldn't stand using the same plan, all the time, everything's scripted and there's no element of randomness, nothing to create. I don't want somebody else to breathe for me."

Danny nodded slowly.

"I think it's also because I just didn't like them that much… as people. Of all the people I've worked with, Danny, with you lot it's always been the best. It's like we're family, you know?"

"Yeah," Danny said, truthfully.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

"I don't know when that part of it all clicked with me. When I first joined I always felt like I didn't fit in… you, Ash, Albie and Stace all knew each other a long time before. I don't know when the whole family thing sunk in… but it did."

They smiled at each other, in a comfrey silence.

"Ok, I'm going to go. We have a busy day tomorrow," Mickey said.

"Yeah, night."

"Night, Danny."

Danny watched as he left, and walked through the living room area of the hotel room them out of the front door. He should probably have gone to sleep, as Mickey had said, they had a busy day tomorrow but he couldn't summon up the willpower to do anything but stand there, thinking about what Mickey had said.

So maybe they didn't need Mickey. But could things be the same without him, if he left a second time around? Would Danny be able to just not tell the others that it had been him that had asked Mickey? Could he lie to Ash and Albert? Could he lie to _Stacie_?

He also realised that regarding all of this, he sort of wanted Mickey back as well. Finally at rest, he left his glass on the balcony and headed straight to bed.


	7. Secret

**Really sorry I haven't updated this in so long! This chapter's only a short one but I promise I'll get this story going again.**

**This chapter's dedicated to Alyson Davies. xD**

**And Rosie Dodd for the word 'blasé'!**

The sun shone brightly across the water, reflecting layers of bright blues in overlapped squares. The pool was almost vacant of swimmers, the occasional ripple appearing across it's surface.

Instead, people were relaxing in sun lounger chairs or beside the bar.

The three hotel guests at the table near the bar at first glance seemed to blend in with the rest of the crowd, apart from the fact that one of them was balancing a laptop on his knees next to his cocktail.

They were waiting for Mickey, who'd left to pick up Albert from the airport something that was probably around an hour ago, but seemed a lot longer. It was barely possible to relax when they were waiting.

The tiny ball of worry about Albert in Ash's head had now grown to quite a reasonable size. He wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting, but he knew there must be some kind of issue for Albert to go missing for long periods of time.

Twice.

"I'll be one minute," Danny said, suddenly springing up as a young woman stalked past in a bikini. "Maybe two, actually."

Ash suppressed a snort, watching as Danny as he casually wandered up to the table where the woman was now sat with two of her friends.

He looked to his left, where Stacie was playing with a strand of her hair, appearing lost in thought. He then remembered the conversation on the plane and recognised the same element of trouble in her eyes.

"Stace?"

Immediately her eyes snapped away from the blank spot that her eyes had been her eyes had previously fixated on, to face Ash.

"What were you going to tell me the other night?" he asked.

He waited, noticing she knew what he meant straight away. She seemed to think about it for a while, then shrug.

"It doesn't matter, it wasn't important," Stacie replied, simply, painting on a smile.

Ash paused, not exactly sure what to say. He _knew _something was wrong. And he wanted to help Stacie, of course, but at the same time not become annoyingly pushy.

"You'd tell us if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"

"Of course," she replied, still remaining blasé.

Ash had to admit she was a good liar. If he hadn't been so sure she was hiding something he probably would have believed her.

But he _was _sure. And this remained an issue.

Before he could pursue her, a bleeping sounded somewhere. Both Ash and Stacie checked their phones.

"Mickey and Albert are upstairs," Ash said, flipping his phone shut.

They both gathered up their belongings and began to walk towards through the doors of the hotel lobby, where the shape of the large swimming pool thinned and eventually became a water feature.

"Should we get Danny?" Stacie asked, pausing.

"Nah, he seems to be having fun."

Ash gestured behind him to where Danny was now entertaining four women, who were all giggling. Danny looked over at his friends quickly and grinned.

"Yeah, you're right," Stacie said, laughing.

They proceeded through the entrance hall and called the elevator. Moments later, they reached the hotel room. The door was unlocked.

The second it opened, Stacie ran to hug a rather shocked Albert.

"Albie!"

"Hello, my dear!"

"Where have you been?" she said, releasing him, her relief slowly turning into annoyance.

Albert smiled. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again," he replied, shrugging off her question.

Stacie raised an eyebrow, irritated. "Albie…"

"I'll talk about it later," he assured her.

Before she could respond, the door opened and Danny strolled in, beaming.

"Albert!" he exclaimed, surprised. "Where did you go?"

"Don't ask," Stacie muttered.

Ash and Danny blinked at her, at the prospect of Stacie being angry at Albert. She and Albert were usually very close; it was unusual for her to act like this.

Mickey re-entered the room, slamming a large folder down on the coffee table and opening it. The other four grifters sat down on the sofa and arm chairs around him.

"Ok," he said, flicking the remote control and turning on the projector device Ash had previously set up. "Let's get this mark."


End file.
